Alabama

Trouble Brewing on Rocky Top?

With 18 days to go before the start of the season for the Tennessee Volunteers, and the inaugural game of Head Coach Lane Kiffin, it looks as if the NCAA is interested with the dealings of Bryce Brown before he became a Vol.

The early word is that the Number One ranked RB of the 2009 Class and other high school players (not yet named) received money towards attending football camps during high school.

If the accusations are true then Brown would be declared in-eligible.

Here is a snippet from the NCAA website concerning the dealings and how they would be considered a violation.

NCAA bylaws

Under NCAA Bylaw 12.3, a student-athlete (any individual who currently participates in or who may be eligible in the future to participate in intercollegiate sport) may not agree verbally or in writing to be represented by an athlete agent in the present or in the future for the purpose of marketing the student-athlete's ability or reputation. If the student-athlete enters into such an agreement, the student-athlete is ineligible for intercollegiate competition.

Also, a student-athlete may not accept transportation or other benefits from an athlete agent. This prohibition applies to the student-athlete and his or her relatives or friends.
The term "agent" includes actual agents, runners (individuals who befriend student-athletes and frequently distribute impermissible benefits) and financial advisors.

It is not a violation of NCAA rules if a student-athlete merely talks to an agent (as long as an agreement for agent representation is not established) or socializes with an agent. For example, a student-athlete could go to dinner with an agent and no NCAA violations would result if the student-athlete provided his own transportation and paid for his meal.

Now with that being said it has not been proven that Brown violated any rules prior to being enrolled at Tennessee. It appears that Coach Lane Kiffin is not saying very much at all other than Brown is still eligible to play at this time. Brown suffered a hip injury in practice on Monday and was in pads at practice today but did not participate

It will be interesting to see how Kiffin handles this situation that is brewing on Rocky Top; especially after his entrance into the SEC like a lion earlier this year with all his accusations of Coach Urban Meyer. If Kiffin loses his top recruit to a high school linked violation it could be a lamb-like exit to the season before it even begins.